Live fueled by creativity, nature, spirituality

Selling more than 20 million albums and having two No. 1 CDs, five No. 1 singles and nine Top 10 hits is certainly impressive in its own right.

But for Live singer-guitarist

Ed Kowalczyk
, these achievements mean even more since his band hasn't compromised its lyrics or its sound to follow going trends over the last 15 years. Still making music on its own terms, Live recently signed with Epic Records. The alternative rock veterans' seventh studio album, "Songs From Black Mountain," is due out April 11.
The band - which also includes guitarist
Chad Taylor
, bassist
Patrick Dahlheimer
and drummer
Chad Gracey
- will headline Feb. 19 at the
Webster Theater
in Hartford.
"I've been calling it 'Distilled Live' (because) we've been doing it for so long that as a songwriter now I can look back and see what I liked that worked, what didn't work," Kowalczyk said in a Feb. 3 interview from his home in Southern California. "This is basically a record of all things that worked.
"That's the one thing about surviving as long as we have and doing it the way we want to do it for so long and not following anybody," he added. "We've come to the point where we can just do what worked. I think we're gonna get a lot of new fans from this, but our old fans will be really happy with it too."
The new album includes the song "Mystery," which features strings and uses a metaphor of a woman and a man uniting to symbolize something spiritual in nature, Kowalczyk said. Lead single "The River" is about a man going to a woman for relief, nourishment and emotional or sexual healing.
"He's just personifying her as this river and his skin's burning and she's this relief for him," said Kowalczyk, who lives in the mountains with his wife, Erin, and their young daughters,

Ana Sophia
and Natasha. "The video captures it beautifully."
Meanwhile, "
Love Shines
(A Song For My Daughters About God)," finds Kowalczyk inspired by becoming a father.
"The overall depth of the record in terms of feeling is just the result of (realizing) getting older isn't that bad," he said. "I always looked at getting beyond 30, when I was in my 20s, (and) I used to just dread it. Now that I'm 34, I feel like, wow, it's kind of awesome because I feel like I'm a better songwriter than ever and I probably feel stronger and healthier and more ready to go than I've ever felt. I kind of spooked myself about getting older. It's not that bad really."
Born July 16, 1971, Kowalczyk grew up in York, Pa. His lone sibling, younger brother Adam, has been playing rhythm guitar in Live as a touring member since the late '90s.
While he has since lightened his stance toward his hometown, Ed Kowalczyk said while he was growing up in York he couldn't wait to get out of there. While his peers listened to heavy metal, Kowalczyk got more and more into philosophy and religion. By the time he was in high school, he was listening to the likes of

Peter Gabriel
.
Around this time, in 1988, Live formed, initially under the name Public Affection.
"When we were starting out as a band, I was addicted to college radio," Kowalczyk said. "We had a
York college
radio station that was way down on the dial and you'd get to hear bands like the Smiths and the Cure and early U2 and
R.E.M. and Joy Division
and that kind of stuff. I was into more of the thinking man's kind of lyrics that college radio represented to me. At that time, what was on TV was more like really cheesy pop music and I didn't really get off on that."
Kowalczyk was choosing between
Gettysburg College
in
Pennsylvania and American University
in Washington, D.C., when Live signed with Radioactive/MCA.
Their debut album, 1991's platinum "Mental Jewelry," includes the song "Good Pain," which initially appeared on Public Affection's indy cassette, 1989's "The Death Of A Dictionary." More importantly, though, it includes the Top 10 hit, "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny Of Tradition" and the classics "Pain Lies On The Riverside" and "The Beauty Of Gray."
"'The Beauty Of Gray' is the song I was writing at the time about racism, about the blending of boundaries and the destroying of these barriers between people," Kowalczyk said. "I grew up in an area that was the typical city that was a racially divided and economically segregated place. And it had a big influence on me. It made me wonder why all black people lived in this part of town and we lived in this part of town. What the hell was that all about? As a kid, I was dealing with that and trying to digest that and feeling like the world was weird in that way. 'Beauty Of Gray' was a song I wrote about people coming together."
Working once again with producer
Jerry Harrison
of the
Talking Heads
, Live crafted their eight-times platinum second album, 1994's "Throwing Copper." The album included the No. 1 hits "Selling The Drama" and "Lightning Crashes" and the Top 10 hits "I Alone" and "All Over You."
"It definitely changed our lives, for sure," Kowalczyk said of the album's success. "What I liked most about it was the freedom to continue to do music for a living. The older I get, I realize how very precious that is and how rare it is to be able to express yourself and make a living doing it. It's something that I'm very grateful for more and more every day."
In 1997, Live released its double platinum third album, "Secret Samadhi," featuring the No. 1 hit "Lakini's Juice" and the Top Five hits "Freak" and "Turn My Head."
The band continued to score chart hits with subsequent albums "The Distance To Here" (1999), "V" (2001) and "Birds Of Pray" (2003). Among them were "The Dolphin's Cry," "Simple Creed" and "Heaven."
The key to Live's longevity?
"Live is a unique entity on radio as a rock band these days still," Kowalczyk said. "We've always been a little left of center as they say. We've never been your traditional rock-pop band. Lyrically, I've always had more of an interest in spirituality and that kind of thing. We continue to fill a special niche for people that they don't get from every other rock band."
In concert, Kowalczyk wants to have a great time and connect with the band's loyal fans.
"To me, a great Live concert is when everybody leaves saying, 'I felt something' or 'I was part of something that was special and it was better than I expected' or 'I love this song. It really spoke directly to me,'" he said. "I've had people say, 'I felt like Ed was singing right to me because that lyric was so important to both of us.' So I'm always trying to have people have that kind of elevated emotional experience from our shows. That's what really matters to me. That's the real payoff."

Doors open at 7 p.m. The venue is at 31 Webster St. Tickets are $35. Call (800) 477-6849.